put a pin in

English

Etymology

Metaphors that arise from various uses of pins, including popping a balloon, pinning in place, and marking with a pin (such as a map position) so that something can be found quickly later.

Verb

put a pin in (third-person singular simple present puts a pin in, present participle putting a pin in, simple past and past participle put a pin in)

1. To discredit or ridicule; to deflate someone or something that is pompous or overly esteemed.
   • 1897 December, “Editorial: Bric-A-Brac”, in Music, volume 13, page 218:

     Another has heard the Thomas orchestra play the overture, or remembers how well the orchestra under Mancinelli came out with the fine touches of the music, and this one puts a pin in the orchestra. The music critic, that microcosm of the tonal world, has heard all these things, and he puts a pin in every one of them and goes home and looks in the glass to find the halo due him for having performed a virtuous act .

   • 1973, Andreas Fuglesang, The Story of a Seminar in Applied Communication, page 12:

     On the other hand, the lecture which puts a pin in professional egos and provokes opposition, may well turn out to carry the seed to future professional growth.

   • 2008, Bethann Siviter, The Newly Qualified Nurse's Handbook, page 108:

     Let me put a pin in a few hierarchical myths: ○ Doctors are smarter/better/more important than nurses: nope, they just have more knowledge and experience in a particular area than you do.

2. To make something certain; to nail down.
   • 2012, Aaron Doolittle, Twenty-Nine, page 132:

     Every time he seemed to have a notion of what, why and when, whenever he seemed to be able to put a pin in that ever elusive cause, that ghost that was to blame, whoever it belonged to it would suddenly and without warning disappear.

   • 2015, Paul Prescott, Erin Sullivan, Shakespeare on the Global Stage, page 22:

     As Boyce wrote: I could sense that there was some expectation that [the Opening Ceremony] would put a pin in the national identity, that we would have to decide — is Britain rural or urban, ancient or modern, riot or clean-up, roundhead or cavalier, multi-cultural or divided?

3. To postpone; to stop focusing or working on (something) until it can be finished at a later time.
   • 2011, Stephen J. Cannell, Vigilante:

     “Remember that gay unsub in Santa Monica who killed boys on their twenty-first birthdays? He brought them home, sat them up at his dinner table, and served the corpses birthday cake.” “Okay, let's put a pin in that for a minute. We don't know why he actually cooked a Cajun dinner, but let's assume he did.

   • 2011, Christine O'Donnell, Troublemaker: Let's Do What It Takes to Make America Great Again, page 116:

     As long as I'm on this subject, let me put a pin in the narrative for another few lines so I can close out the story of my undergraduate career, which by now had been dragging on for way longer than necessary.

   • 2017, Dean Koontz, The Silent Corner, page 238:

     Investigations of crimes continued 24/7, but in cases where no lives hung in the balance and national security was not an issue, the Bureau cranked down the intensity of its work on Saturday and Sunday. Nathan could justify putting a pin in the matter of Jane Hawk until Monday.

4. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see put,‎ pin,‎ in.
   • 1949, Eugène Jolas, Transition Workshop, page 156:

     A woman makes a wax man, puts a pin in its chest; and the man dies.

   • 2005, Keith Dixon, Ghostfires:

     They're going to put a pin in my femur.

   • 2014, Jennifer Fulton, Quilting, page 194:

     Lay down the binding on the left, and put a pin in the quilt to mark where it ends.

   • 2015, Daniel Handler, We Are Pirates, page 215:

     Every time we get a tip, we put a pin in this map.

Related terms

• put in the pin